This invention pertains to an assembly of modular objects for autonomously executing a variety of tasks. Such an assembly is sometimes referred to as a robot—“a machine or mechanical device that operates automatically with humanlike skill.” The Random House College Dictionary, Revised Edition, Random House, Inc., New York, N.Y. (1988).
Present-day robots are designed to perform specialized tasks such as vacuuming a carpeted room, mowing a lawn, storing and retrieving goods in warehouses, obtaining and delivering goods in the course of manufacturing operations, and performing operations in connection with the making of parts and the assembly of machines. Specialized designs of robots for the performance of specialized tasks will be an insurmountable economic burden to the widespread use of robots in the future unless a way is found to design robots to perform a multitude of tasks utilizing the same basic configuration.